Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. announced December 9 they had formally completed its purchase of ArcelorMittal USA. According to a statement from the company, the combined company made pro-forma revenue of $17 billion on a full-year basis from 2019, and combined adjusted earnings of about $1.7 billion.
ArcelorMittal received 78 million shares of Cleveland-Cliffs common stock, $505 million in cash. Cleveland-Cliffs also agreed to take on ArcelorMittal USA’s net liabilities of about $0.5 billion in pensions and other post-employment benefits. In exchange, Cleveland-Cliffs took control of ArcelorMittal USA’s six steel-making facilities, eight finishing facilities, two iron ore mining and pelletizing operations, and three coal and coke-making operations.
In addition to the ArcelorMittal deal, Cleveland-Cliffs also said it had acquired full ownership of two New Carlisle, Indiana steel plants, I/N Tek and I/N Kote. Cleveland-Cliffs previously shared part ownership of the plants with Nippon Steel Corporation but now owns both plants 100%. According to Cleveland-Cliffs, the factories generated $121 million in earnings in 2019.
Cleveland-Cliffs also added a separate plant owned by Nippon Steel in Alabama as a long-term supplier for automotive grade slabs.
In a statement, CEO Lourenco Goncalves of Cleveland-Cliffs said the slew of deals “opens a new chapter in the history of the steel business in the United States. The assets we have acquired will be combined with our existing footprint, including AK Steel, Precision Partners, AK Tube, several mining and pelletizing facilities, our Research & Development Center, and the most modern Direct Reduction plant in the world, which we have just started to operate in Toledo, OH.”
The company’s new, wider footprint, Goncalves said, would allow Cleveland-Cliffs to be “a major player in supporting American manufacturing, American future investments in infrastructure, and the prosperity of the American people through good paying middle-class jobs.”
In September, when the deal was first announced, Cleveland-Cliffs said it would fund the sale through a combination of cash and stock shares, with $505 million in cash. The purchaser also agreed to take on all of ArcelorMittal USA’s pensions and benefit liabilities.
